SoR launches consultation on Northern Ireland pay offer

The Society of Radiographers has launched a consultation on the proposed 2024/25 pay offer for members based in Northern Ireland.

Members in Northern Ireland are being asked to give their opinion on whether they should accept a 5.5 per cent pay rise offered by Northern Ireland’s Minister for Health, Mike Nesbitt, and the Department of Health. The consultation opened yesterday (18 December) and will run until 5pm on 8 January 2025.

If the offer is accepted workers on the Agenda for Change pay banding system in Northern Ireland will be brought into pay parity with NHS England and NHS Wales.

The Society is recommending that members accept the offer.

What does the pay award entail?

If accepted, the pay rise will see eligible SoR members receive a minimum of 10 months retrospective pay from their March 2025 pay dates. The rise would apply only to staff under NHS Agenda for Change, which includes radiographers.

Cora Regan, SoR National Officer for NI and other trade union leads met with Mike Nesbitt and members of the Department of Health earlier this month to hear the government’s formal commitment to providing the pay offer.

"We will remain engaged and focussed early in the New Year on full delivery of the minister's commitments and the position is outlined in the memorandum of understanding from the Department of Health,” said Cora.

What happened with the pay award in England and Wales?

In September, SoR members in England voted overwhelmingly to accept a 5.5 per cent pay offer made by the Labour government. In total, 84 per cent of respondents to its consultation voted in favour of accepting the pay award.

In this instance, pay was backdated to April 2024.

Following this, in November, 81 per cent of SoR members in Wales also voted to accept a 5.5 per cent rise in pay for staff under NHS Agenda for Change. NHS pay in Wales is 1.5 per cent higher than in England due to union negotiations that have taken place in the last two years.